Bulgaria will walk out of a Russian-backed trans-Balkan oil pipeline project if Moscow fails to provide guarantees that the line would not damage Black Sea beaches, Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said.

In 2007, Bulgaria agreed with Russia and Greece to build a pipeline to carry Russian crude oil from the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas to the Greek port of Alexandroupolis, bypassing the traffic-clogged Bosphorus Straits.

But Bulgaria's new centre-right cabinet, which won July elections, is reviewing its commitments to major Russian-backed energy projects to determine if the ventures are environmentally friendly and economically viable, and in the country's national interest.

Residents of Burgas and nearby Black Sea resort towns have protested against the trans-Balkan line, which they fear may cause serious environmental damage to the coast and scare away tourists, their main livelihood.

"The oil pipeline Burgas-Alexandroupolis will not be built unless full guarantees for the environment are found," Borisov told reporters on the sidelines of a business forum.

Borisov said he had informed Moscow and Athens that the project would not start until conditions that are acceptable to the people of the Burgas region were agreed.

The new cabinet is also reviewing plans to build a new 2,000 megawatt nuclear power plant with Russian reactors and its participation in Russian Gazprom's South Stream gas pipeline project, which would ship natural gas under the Black Sea to southeast Europe.

Reuters, Balkans.com Business News